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Backup Facilities................................................................................................................................................................ 8
Supported Technologies........................................................................................................................10
Distributive CD ................................................................................................................................................................ 11
Registration..................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Installation ...........................................................................................................................................14
First Start..............................................................................................................................................15
Startup ............................................................................................................................................................................ 16
Scheduling ............................................................................................................................................23
General Layout................................................................................................................................................................ 24
Partitioning Options........................................................................................................................................................ 35
Restoring a dual boot Mac from an external USB drive ............................................................................................... 100
Burning of data from the corrupted system disk to CD/DVD ....................................................................................... 106
Making Windows Vista/7 backup bootable on virtual hardware (P2V Adjust) ............................................................ 118
By implementing in this product all cutting edge technologies, including support for the system virtualization (P2V),
the latest trend in the system migration, protection, and evaluation, the company has offered all the necessary
facilities to build a bullet-proof shield against any disaster.
In this manual you will find the answers to many of the technical questions, which might arise while using the
program.
Our company is constantly releasing new versions and updates to its software, that's why
images shown in this manual may be different from what you see on your screen.
P2V Adjust to recover the startup ability after unsuccessful virtualization with a 3rd party tool; to make
Windows Vista/7 backups bootable on virtual hardware.
Support for popular virtualization software vendors including Microsoft Virtual PC, VMware Workstation
and Sun VirtualBox.
Backup to an FTP server to provide a new level of system and data protection.
The latest Linux kernel to enjoy support of a wider range of hardware configurations, including the brand
new Intel ICH9 chipset.
More flexibility for online data processing techniques to provide for easier configuration for both, Paragon
Hot Processing and Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS).
Better support for 64-bit platforms to reboot your computer to one of the three special modes (Windows
native, Linux, or DOS) to automatically complete operations, which cannot be accomplished under 64-bit
Windows.
Automatic data exclusion with an advanced system of filters will help you automate the process of building
up contents of the future backup image, by excluding irrelevant data such as movies, music, etc.
Better support for GUID Partition Table (GPT) to back up and restore not only single GPT volumes but entire
disks, including the option of resize during the restore operation.
Better support for Linux ExtFS starting from Ext2FS up to the brand new Ext4FS.
More usability when managing backup tasks with the new Task List and Archive View.
Product Components
Copyright© 1994-2010 Paragon Software Group. All rights reserved.
In order to cope with different tasks, the product contains several components:
Windows based set of utilities is the crucial part of the product. With the help of an easy to use launcher
you may find and run tasks of any complexity in the field of data and system protection, hard disk
partitioning and cloning, etc.
Linux/DOS based recovery environment is a multi-platform bootable media that enables to run utilities
under Linux or PTS DOS, and that way to get access to your hard disk for maintenance or recovery purposes.
Both platforms have their strong sides, for instance Linux can boast support of FireWire (i.e. IEEE1394) or
USB devices. It enables to burn CD/DVD disks. However there can be some difficulties with detecting new
hardware. DOS in its turn has no problems of that kind but is limited in features. The Linux/DOS recovery
environment requires no installation and can be of great help when the system fails to boot. Besides it offers
a Windows XP like environment.
Features Overview
This chapter dwells upon key benefits and technical highlights of the product.
Key Features
Let us list some of the key features:
Previewing the resulting layout of hard disks before actually executing operations (so-called virtual
operations).
Backup Facilities
Archive Database to help the user easily manage backup images (get properties, add, delete, mount, etc.).
This feature is only available for the Windows installation of the program.
- Backup to an external mounted storage to provide for a higher level of data protection and system
independence;
- Backup to a special secured place on the hard disk called the Backup Capsule that has an independent
system layout (e.g. a separate partition) and will stay operable should the active file system be damaged. To
avoid an accidental removing or unauthorized access of the backup data, this partition is hidden and thus
cannot be mounted in the operating system;
- Backup to a network drive to stand a better chance of success in case of a hard disk failure;
- Backup to an FTP server to provide a new level of system and data protection.
Sector backup to save not only all on-disk information but also the system service structures. It is ideal for
making a backup image of an entire hard disk or system partitions to guarantee the operating system’s
working capability.
Differential backup to a sector image to only archive changes since the last full sector-based image, thus
considerably saving the backup storage space. To restore this kind of backup you will require a full image
and one of its differentials.
Cyclic backup to automate the backup of separate partitions. It is an ideal option if you want to establish a
self-acting data protection system.
Cyclic Backup is only available for the Windows installation of the program.
Restore Facilities
Restore an entire disk, separate partitions or only files you need from the previously created backup
image.
Restore with Shrink to restore a backup image to a free block of smaller size taking into account only the
amount of actual data of the image.
Mount a partition (assign a drive letter) of any file system type to make it available for your operating
system.
Modify file system parameters (make active/inactive, hide/unhide, change serial number, partition ID,
volume label, etc.).
Automatization Facilities
Task scheduling to automate routine operations. It can be particularly effective when you have to repeat a
sequence of actions on a regular basis.
Auxiliary Facilities
File Transfer Wizard to make such operations as transferring of files/directories or burning of them to
CD/DVD as easy and convenient as possible. Providing access to Paragon backups as regular folders, it may
also help to replace corrupted data from a previously created image in case of an operating system failure.
Network Configuration Wizard to establish a network connection under Linux either to save a backup of a
partition/hard disk or just several files on a network computer or retrieve a previously made backup from a
network computer for recovery purposes.
Supported Technologies
Along with using innovative technologies from outside, Paragon has developed a number of its own original
technologies that make its products unique and attractive for customers:
Paragon Hot Backup™ technology to back up locked partitions and hard disks under Windows NT+ family
operating systems providing both high operating efficiency as well as low hardware requirements.
Paragon Power Shield™ technology to provide data consistency in case of a hardware malfunction, power
outages or an operating system failure.
Paragon UFSD™ technology to browse partitions of any file system including hidden and unmounted, modify
and copy files and folders, etc.
Paragon Restore with Shrink™ technology to restore a backup image to a free block of smaller size taking
into account only the amount of actual data of the image.
Paragon Smart Partition™ technology to securely perform hard disk partitioning operations of any
complexity.
Paragon BTE™ technology to set tasks for execution in the Windows blue screen mode, thus saving from the
need to use a bootable media when modifying system partitions.
Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to provide the copy/backup infrastructure for the Microsoft
Windows XP/Vista/7 operating systems. It offers a reliable mechanism to create consistent point-in-time
copies of data known as shadow copies. Developed by Microsoft in close cooperation with the leading
copy/backup solution vendors on the market, it is based on a snapshot technology concept.
Microsoft Dynamic Disk (simple, spanned, striped, mirrored, RAID-5) to offer more management flexibility
without the partition limitation of basic disks. Dynamic storage can be particularly beneficial for large-scale
businesses when dealing with many physical hard disks involving complex setup.
GUID Partition Table (GPT). It is the next generation of a hard disk partitioning scheme developed to lift
restrictions of the old MBR. GPT disks are now supported by Windows Vista/7, Mac OS X and Linux.
VMware Workstation;
Sun VirtualBox.
Full read/write access to NTFS (Basic and all five types of Dynamic Disks) under Windows 95/98/ME, Linux
and PTS DOS. Compressed NTFS files are also supported.
Full read/write access to Ext2FS/Ext3FS/Ext4FS partitions under all versions of Windows, DOS 5.0 and later.
Unfortunately, support of non-Roman characters for the HFS+ file system is unavailable at
the moment. The company is about to implement it in the nearest future.
Supported Media
Support of both MBR and GPT hard disks (up to 1,5 TB tested)
CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD+R double layer and also Blu-ray discs
Getting Started
In this chapter you will find all the information necessary to get the product ready to use.
Distribution
Paragon Backup & Recovery 2010 Free Advanced is distributed in two ways:
Distributive CD
The boxed package includes a distributive CD that is in fact a bootable Linux/DOS recovery environment with auto-
run of the Windows installation, thus it can be used as a ready-made solution (see Booting from the Linux/DOS
Recovery Media). But if you’re going to run the Windows components, you need to install them first (see
Installation).
If you want to download an update/upgrade of the product, it will be in form of the downloadable installation
package as described in Online Distribution).
Online Distribution
Backup & Recovery 2010 Free Advanced purchased over the Internet will be in form of an MSI package. After
installing the product you can launch the Recovery Media Builder to build the Linux/DOS recovery media.
Available around-the-clock downloading center, where registered users can get product updates/upgrades
as well as all the necessary documentation;
Downloadable free demo versions and open documentation for all users.
4. Click Register.
The most important field in the form is an E-mail address, as it serves as a login to enter the system. Besides your
access password will be sent to this address as well.
2. In the Email field of the Authorization section, enter an E-mail used for registration;
5. If the user name and password are valid, you will get to your account;
7. Enter your product serial number in the Serial Number field. You can find it in the product box or obtain
from your reseller. Click Next;
8. On the next page you will be asked to provide some additional data. Also you will need to decide whether
you want to get confirmation on registering the product by E-mail or not. Click Next, and then click Finish.
2. In the Email field of the Authorization section, enter an E-mail used for registration;
5. If the user name and password are valid, you will get to your account;
6. Select My Downloads of the Products section to see what updates are available for you;
Service Contact
www.paragon-
Registration & updates web-service
software.com/support
System Requirements
Windows based set of utilities
To use the Windows utilities, you should install them first. But before that, please make sure your computer meets
the following minimum system requirements:
Intel Pentium CPU or its equivalent, with 300 MHz processor clock speed
Mouse
256 MB of RAM
SVGA-compatible monitor
Mouse (recommended)
Additional requirements
There may be additional requirements if you want to use advanced features:
Installation
As we have already mentioned only Windows components of the product require installation. So to install Paragon
Backup & Recovery 2010 Free Advanced under Windows, please do the following:
1. Run Setup Application. Click on the *.MSI file. This application will guide you through the process of the
program installation. The setup utility is compiled with the InstallShield SDK, hence it contains the standard
user interface and set of installation steps.
In case there is some previous version of the program installed on the computer, the
program will offer the user to uninstall it first.
2. Starting Setup. The Welcome page informs that the application is being installed. Click the Next button to
continue.
3. Confirm License Agreement. The License Agreement page displays the Paragon License Agreement. Read
the agreement and then select the appropriate option to accept. If you do not agree with any conditions
stated there, the installation process will be interrupted. By clicking the Print button, the License Agreement
may also be printed out.
4. Provide Registration Information. On the Registration page you are to provide your product key and serial
number.
5. Provide Customer Information. On the Customer Information page you are to provide the standard
information, i.e. a user name and an organization. Besides you need to decide whether to make the program
available for all users of this computer (if several) or only for the current one.
6. Select an Installation Folder. The Destination Folder page allows you to choose a folder where the program
will be installed. By default, the installation folder will be created as:
C:\Program Files\Paragon Software\Backup and Recovery 2010 Free Advanced. To select another folder,
click the Change… button.
Do not install the program on network drives. Do not use Terminal Server sessions to install
and run the program. In both cases, the program functionality will be limited.
7. Confirm Installation. On the Ready to Install the Program page click the Install button to start the
installation or the Back button to return to any of the previous pages and modify the installation settings.
8. Copying Files. The Copying Files page shows the overall progress of the installation. Click the Cancel button
to abort the setup.
9. Finishing the Installation. The Final page reports the end of the setup process. Click the Finish button to
complete the wizard.
First Start
To start Paragon Backup & Recovery 2010 Free Advanced under Windows, please click the Windows Start button
and then select Programs > Paragon Backup and Recovery™ 2010 Free Advanced > Paragon Backup and
Recovery™.
The program provides wide opportunities in the field of hard disk structure modification, so
just to be on the safe side, please make a backup of your data before carrying out any
operation.
The first component that will be displayed is called the Launcher. In general it enables to run wizards and utilities, to
specify program settings, to visualize the operating environment and the hard disk configuration, to launch the help
system or to go to the program’s home page.
To know more on the subject, please consult the Windows Components chapter.
Prepare the Linux/DOS recovery environment (included in the installation package) on external media (CD,
DVD, or flash memory) to boot and run utilities under Linux or PTS DOS, and that way to get access to your
hard disk for maintenance or recovery purposes (strongly recommended);
Prepare a custom Linux/DOS recovery environment by adding any data you like to the standard image;
Create from the master CD the Linux/DOS recovery environment on a CD/DVD disc, or flash memory.
Startup
To start working with the Linux/DOS recovery environment, please take the following steps:
Recovery Media Builder can help you prepare the Linux/DOS recovery environment either
on a CD/DVD disc or a thumb drive.
To automatically boot from the recovery media please make sure the on-board BIOS is set
up to boot from CD/USB first.
2. Launch a boot mode you need (Normal, Safe, Low-Graphics Safe) in the Boot menu.
By default the Normal Mode will be automatically initiated after a 10 second idle period.
3. Click on the required operation to start. Hints on the selected at the moment item will help you make the
right choice.
4. Consult the help system by pressing ALT+F1 to know more on the subject.
Boot menu
The Boot menu contains the following commands:
Normal Mode. Boot into the Linux normal mode. This mode uses the full set of drivers (recommended);
Safe Mode. Boot into the PTS DOS mode. This mode can be used as an alternative of the Linux normal mode
if it fails to work properly;
Low-Graphics Safe Mode. Boot into the PTS DOS safe mode. In this case, only the minimal set of drivers will
be included, like hard disk, monitor, and keyboard drivers. This mode has simple graphics and a simple
menu;
To move within the menu, please use the arrow keys of the computer keyboard.
While working with the recovery environment you might experience some inconvenience
caused by possible video artifacts. It is just a result of changing video modes and in no way
will affect the program functionality. If this is the case, please wait a bit and everything will
be OK.
Normal Mode
When the Normal mode is selected, the Linux launch menu appears:
Backup and Recovery (enables to copy and back up separate partitions or entire hard disks, carry out basic
partitioning operations, etc.);
File Transfer Wizard (allows coping files/folders to another disk or a partition as well as recording them to
CD/DVD);
If you are going to use network resources, first launch the Network Configuration Wizard to
establish a network connection.
Log Saver (helps to collect and send the necessary log files to the Technical Support);
Eject CD/DVD;
To move within the menu, please use the arrow keys of the computer keyboard.
Safe Mode
When the Safe mode is selected, the PTS DOS launch menu appears. It has nearly the same functionality as for the
Normal mode except the Network Configurator and Log Saver commands. Besides due to certain limitations of the
PTS DOS environment, there is no possibility to burn CD/DVD discs.
Basic Concepts
This chapter explains terms and ideas that show how the program works. To understand these helps to obtain a
general notion of the operation performance and makes it easier for the user to operate the program.
Backup Types
At the present moment the market is offering various types of backup imaging to meet the needs of any user.
A differential archive only contains data changed since the time of creating a full archive, which forms a base (or a
parental image) in this case, thus considerably saving your system resources. It is realized by the exact bit-wise
comparison of the previous partition's data (saved in the parental image) with the current data (that is actually the
partition itself). To restore this kind of backup you will require a full image and one of its differentials, what is very
convenient.
Backup Storage
Our program supports all present day techniques of storing backup images. Let’s take a closer look at them all to
understand what kind of storage is able to provide better security:
You can place a backup image to a local mounted or unmounted (without drive letter assigned) partition.
Despite the fact that it is the most convenient way, try not to use it. You can delete your backup just by
accident or lose it as a result of a hardware malfunction, or a virus attack;
You can place a backup image to an external mounted storage to provide for a higher level of data
protection and system independence;
You can place a backup image to a special secured place on the hard disk called the Backup Capsule that has
an independent system layout (e.g. a separate partition) and will stay operable should the active file system
be damaged. To avoid an accidental removing or unauthorized access of the backup data, this partition is
hidden and thus cannot be mounted in the operating system. However it won’t help you in case of a
hardware malfunction;
You can place a backup image to external media (CD/DVD) to guarantee a high level of data protection as
long as the backup media is kept secure;
You can place a backup image to a network drive to stand a better chance of success in case of a hard disk
failure. Moreover, by storing it on a special-purpose server you may be pretty sure nothing will happen to it;
Finally you can place a backup image to an FTP server to provide a new level of system and data protection.
2. File backup and restore to/from FTP, including the selective restore functionality are not available.
5. Parallel access to several FTP servers is limited - only one password for all servers is available.
System Virtualization
With new powerful x86 computers, system virtualization has become extremely popular. It’s a software technology
that enables to run several virtual machines on one physical machine, providing resources of that single computer
are shared across several environments. As a result one and the same physical computer can have multiple OSs and
applications operating simultaneously, thus opening up enormous opportunities for both, business and home users,
exactly:
Enjoy working with old applications you can’t launch on your current PC;
Take advantage of having multiple operating systems on one Windows PC, including Linux, Mac OS X, etc.;
Forget about hunting for replacement of the failed hardware, and many more…
Known Issues
1. You should install integration services of your particular version of virtualization software (e.g. VMware
Tools) on the virtual system yourself. We only guarantee its smooth startup.
2. After transferring Microsoft Vista and later versions to a virtual environment, you will need to re-activate
license of the system. It’s normal behavior as these systems keep tracking any change of hardware. Re-
activation is legally justified in this case.
3. If your system hosts several Windows OSes, our program will find them all and automatically patch to run in
a virtual environment. However we cannot guarantee smooth startup of all found Windows systems, but the
guest OS, for its configuration parameters may be incompatible with the others.
As the name infers, offline data processing can only be accomplished when the data is in consistent state (the
operating system and all the applications are completely shut down). Actually it is the most preferable way of image
creation or data cloning, since software can obtain an exclusive right to process data that guaranties high level of
operating efficiency. However, the offline data processing is absolutely out of question when dealing with 24/7
production environments.
Our program supports both offline and online methods of data processing. As far as online method is concerned it
offers its own hot processing algorithm together with the possibility to use snapshot technologies provided by the
Microsoft VSS framework.
Paragon Hot Processing is not exactly a snapshot technology, though it has much in common with it. During an
online copy/backup, the program uses the kernel mode driver HOTCORE.SYS to intercept and control disk write
activity of applications and the operating system. The hotcore driver as an integral part of the program is installed
during the setup procedure (that’s why the system reboot is required to complete the setup procedure). For the
most part the driver is in the idle mode until it is activated with the program. While in this mode it bypasses any calls
having no effect on the overall system performance, but a few kilobytes of the system memory.
Paragon Hot Processing technology offers copy/backup of locked partitions and hard disks under Windows NT+
family operating systems providing both high operating efficiency as well as low hardware requirements.
It is not recommended to use Paragon Hot Processing with active SQL Server, Exchange or
Oracle databases since the backup image contents may be corrupted.
Initiated by a VSS aware copy/backup utility, VSS creates snapshots for the selected volumes and represents them as
virtual read-only devices, called volume shadow copies. Once the shadow copies are created, the copy/backup utility
starts processing the data while applications keep writing to original volumes.
Unlike Paragon Hot Processing the VSS technology provides a unique possibility to make a synchronous snapshot of
multiple volumes. This very feature can be particularly beneficial when backing up active SQL Server 2003, Exchange
2003 or Oracle databases located on multiple volumes the way it is recommended by Microsoft to improve the level
of database performance and reliability, thus providing 100-percent data consistency.
Dynamic Disks
As you probably know, MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/Vista/Server 2003/2008 support four
primary partitions per physical hard disk, one of which can be extended. Certainly there is the possibility to create
logical drives within the extended partition. Such types of disks are called basic. Windows XP Professional, Windows
Copyright© 1994-2010 Paragon Software Group. All rights reserved.
2000, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003/2008 follow the same strategy: You can have a maximum of four
primary partitions, one of which can be an extended partition with logical drives. However, these operating systems
also introduce a new disk configuration type - dynamic disk - which must be understood to effectively configure and
manage hard disks.
Dynamic disk is a physical disk that doesn't use partitions or logical drives. Instead, it contains only dynamic volumes.
Regardless of what format you use for the file system, only Win2K computers can access dynamic volumes directly.
However, computers that aren't running Win2K can access the dynamic volumes remotely when connected to the
shared folders over the network.
Dynamic disks can co-exist on a system with basic disks. The only limitation is that you cannot mix Basic and
Dynamic disks on the same hard drive.
There are five types of dynamic volumes: simple (uses free space from a single disk), spanned (created from free disk
space that is linked together from multiple disks), striped (a volume the data of which is interleaved across two or
more physical disks), mirrored (a fault-tolerant volume the data of which is duplicated on two physical disks, and
RAID-5 volumes (a fault-tolerant volume the data of which is striped across an array of three or more disks).
With dynamic storage, you can perform disk and volume management without the need to restart Windows.
Limitations:
You cannot create mirrored volumes or RAID-5 volumes on Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP
Professional, or Windows XP 64-Bit Edition-based computers.
Thus, the dynamic disk is a new way of looking at hard disk configuration. Dynamic disks offer you more
management flexibility without the partition limitation of basic disks. Dynamic disks can contain an unlimited
number of volumes, but they cannot contain partitions or logical drives. Dynamic storage can be particularly
beneficial for large-scale businesses when dealing with many physical hard disks involving complex setup.
More reliable thanks to replication and cyclic redundancy check (CRC) protection of the partition table;
A well defined and fully self-identifying partition format (data critical to the platform operation is located in
partitions, but not in un-partitioned or hidden sectors as this is the case with MBR).
64-bit Support
It can boast improved scalability for business applications that enables to support more customer databases and
more simultaneous users on each server. Besides a 64-bit kernel can access more system resources, such as memory
allocation per user. A 64-bit processor can handle over 4 billion times more memory addresses than a 32-bit
processor. With these resources, even a very large database can be cached in memory.
Although many business applications run without problems on 32-bit systems, others have grown so complex that
they use up the 4 GB memory limitation of a 32-bit address space. With this large amount of data, fewer memory
resources are available to meet memory needs. On a 64-bit server, most queries are able to perform in the buffers
available to the database.
Some 32-bit applications make the transition to the 64-bit environment seamlessly others do not. For instance,
system-level utilities and programs that provide direct hardware access are likely to fail. Our program offers a full-
fledged support of the 64-bit architecture providing fault-tolerant work for such system dependent modules as Hot
Processing.
Drive Partitioning
As you probably know a hard drive is to be split into one or more partitions, since it cannot hold data until it is
carved up and space is set aside for an operating system. Until recently most PCs used to have just one partition,
which filled the entire hard disk and contained an OS. The situation has changed however, thanks to new cost-
effective high capacity hard drives, thus opening up numerous possibilities for PC users, such as editing video,
archiving music, backing up CD images, etc. Huge increase in space is great, but it poses a number of problems, most
important of which are effective data organization and speed.
Large drives are always going to take longer to search than smaller volumes, and an operating system is going to
have its work cut out both finding and organizing files. It is for this reason that many people decide to invest in
multiple hard drives, but there is an easy solution – drive partitioning. Partitioning lets you divide a single physical
drive into a number of logical drives, each of which servers as a container with its own drive letter and volume label,
thus enabling the operating system to process data more efficiently. Besides partitioning makes it possible to
organize data so that it is easy to find and manage. You can set aside, for instance, 40 GB of a 160 GB hard drive for
the OS, 70 GB for storing video and another 50 GB for your favorite music collections to provide transparent data
storage.
It is also worth mentioning to that with a hard drive properly partitioned, such routine operations as files de-
fragmentation or consistency check will not be that annoying and time-consuming any more.
By detaching the OS from the rest of the data you can tackle one more crucial issue – in case of a system
malfunction, you can get the system back on track in minutes by recovering it from a backup image located on the
other partition of the hard drive.
But that is not all drive partitioning may be used for. If you are willing to play games in Windows while browsing the
Internet in Linux, 100-percent sure that no virus will attack your PC, drive partitioning is a necessity. In order to run
several OSs on a single hard drive you are to create a corresponding number of partitions to effectively delineate the
boundaries of each OS.
Scheduling
Copyright© 1994-2010 Paragon Software Group. All rights reserved.
The automation of operations is particularly effective when you have to repeat a sequence of actions on a regular
basis. For example, developing a specific project on a day-to-day basis and having to make a backup every evening
so as not to lose the valuable data, you will really appreciate, when this kind of routine operations will be carried out
automatically without your participation.
Another aspect of any automation process is that it allows an optimization of your computer’s work-load. This is
especially important when operations require a considerable amount of computer resources – processor time,
memory and more. A number of tasks, which can decrease the performance, can be run during the night or
whenever the computer has the least work-load to perform.
The program has a special tool for scheduling. You can set out a timetable for any operation and it will start at a
specified time without interrupting your current activity.
Windows Components
In the given section you can find all the information necessary to successfully work with the Windows version of the
product.
Interface Overview
This chapter introduces the graphical interface of the program. The design of the interface precludes any mistake
being made on the part of the user. Most operations are performed through the system of wizards. Buttons and
menus are accompanied by easy understandable icons. Nevertheless, any problems that might occur while
managing the program can be tackled by reading this very chapter.
General Layout
When you start the program, the first component that is displayed is called the Launcher. It enables to run wizards
and dialogs, to specify program settings, to visualize the operating environment and the hard disk configuration.
The Launcher’s window can be conditionally subdivided into several sections that differ in their purpose and
functionality:
2. Tool Bar
5. Explorer Bar
6. Disk Map
7. Legend Bar
8. Status Bar
A number of panels offer similar functionality with a synchronized layout. The program enables to conceal some of
them to simplify the interface management.
All panels are separated by vertical and horizontal expandable sliders, allowing the user to customize the screen
layout.
Main Menu
Tools
Recovery Media Builder… Restore the system even when the current operating system cannot boot
anymore
Check Recovery Disks… Verify the recovery media for integrity and ability to boot from
Changes
Undo `the last virtual Cancel the last virtual operation on the List of Pending Operations
operation`
Redo `the last virtual Cancel the last undo virtual operation on the List of Pending Operations
operation`
Discard All Changes Cancel all virtual operations on the List of Pending Operations
Wizards
Back up Disk or Partition… Create a sector-based archive of an entire hard disk or separate partitions
Restore… Restore an entire hard disk, separate partitions, or files from the backup image
Check Archive Integrity… Perform integrity check for the required backup image
Hard Disk
Partition
Remove Drive Letter… Remove drive letter for the selected partition
Hide Partition… Make the selected partition unavailable for the operating system
Unhide Partition… Make the selected partition available for the operating system
Check File System Check the selected partition for possible file system errors
Integrity…
Archives
Delete the Archive from the Delete archive files from the archive database
Database…
Restore File From Archive Restore separate files from the archive
Check Archive Integrity… Perform integrity check for the required backup image
View
Toolbar Manage the Tool Bar representation: show / hide standard and navigation
buttons, text labels and large icons
Help
Help Open the Help system (you can also do it by pressing F1)
The Main Menu contents available at the moment may vary depending on the selected
object.
Tool Bar
The Toolbar provides fast access to the most frequently used operations:
BUTTON FUNCTIONALITY
BUTTON FUNCTIONALITY
Virtual mode is an effective way of protection from any troubles, since no operations will
be executed until clicking the Apply button for confirmation, thus giving a second chance to
weigh all pros and cons of this or that particular operation. The program politely reminds
the user that there are unsaved changes by showing the following window:
The bar contains several tabs named Basic Backup/Restore Tasks, Advanced Backup Tasks, Virtualization Tasks,
Tools and News and Documentation. Each of these contains a separate button bar which can be folded by clicking
it.
Starting the Restore Wizard to restore a hard disk, separate partition, or files
from the backup image.
Virtualization Tasks
Starting the P2V Copy Wizard to migrate a Win2K+ physical system to a virtual
environment in the online mode.
Starting the P2V Adjust Wizard to recover the startup ability after unsuccessful
virtualization with a 3rd party tool.
Starting the Manage Backup Capsule Wizard to create, resize or delete the
backup capsule.
Starting the Check Recovery Disk Wizard to verify recovery media for integrity
and ability to boot from.
Starting the Check Archive Integrity Wizard to verify backup archives for
consistency.
Starting the File Transfer Wizard to transfer data from any media. Besides it
provides access to Paragon backups as regular folders to browse through their
contents or copy required files.
Opening the page which contains information about the program. This page
will be displayed in the Explorer Bar.
Disk Map
The Disk Map is displayed in the Explorer Bar when the Disk View tab is selected. It is located either at the top or at
the bottom of the window, depending on the state of the Disk Map Location option (Main Menu: View > Disk Map
Location).
As the name infers, the Disk Map displays the layout of physical and logical disks. Physical disks are represented with
rectangle bars that contain small-sized bars. These small-sized bars represent logical disks. Their color depends on
the file system of the appropriate partition.
Manufacturer,
Model.
Serial number,
Total size,
File system.
Furthermore, it is possible to estimate the used disk space by looking at the size of the bar’s shaded area. The
program offers to choose from several types of the disk layout scaling. It’s done especially to increase the program
usability. For instance, if you’ve got a high capacity hard drive containing both very large (more than 100 GB) and
rather small (less than 10 GB) partitions, you can select the logarithmic type to make all partitions readable,
otherwise (selecting the linear type) you won’t be able to see small partitions at all, but thing strips. On the other
hand, if the proportional disk layout is critical for you, the linear type is exactly what you need.
Nevertheless there’s a compromise solution – linear scaling with the minimal limit to small partitions. So if a
partition is too small it will remain readable.
Just click on the arrow icon on the top right side of the Disk Map to select the desired scaling type.
Disk Map is synchronized with the Explorer Bar. Thus by selecting a disk on the Disk Map, the Explorer Bar will
automatically display detailed information on it.
The drag-and-drop functionality is not available when the logarithmic type of the disk
layout is selected.
Explorer Bar
The Explorer Bar is located in the center of the main window which emphasizes its importance. The bar displays
reference information including:
General information on the product including its name, version and a list of helpful links;
List of archives;
Disk View.
Scheduled Tasks, which gives the user the possibility of browsing and editing scheduled operations and the
program scripts.
Help, which contains the program help and general information on the product.
You can access the desired information by clicking on the appropriate tab.
The Explorer Bar is a fully-functional embedded HTML browser, which offers the possibility to address, for example,
the company's website to look through important technical notes or download the latest updates without having to
close the program.
The program help is also HTML-oriented. You can read it and follow external links from to get additional
information.
To easily navigate through browsed pages, the program provides the following functionality:
BUTTON FUNCTIONALITY
The program distinguishes between the following types of known file systems:
- FAT16/32,
- NTFS,
- Linux Ext2/3/4,
- Linux ReiserFS,
- Apple HFS.
Status Bar
This is the bottom part of the main window. The Status Bar displays menu hints, for each item the cursor points to.
The user can hide (or show) the bar with the appropriate Main Menu item: View > Status Bar.
Settings Overview
The Settings dialog is available from the Main Menu: Tools > Settings. All the settings are grouped into several
sections, which functions are described in the following paragraphs. The list of sections is placed on the left side of
the dialog. By selecting a section from the list, you can open a set of options.
To get a detailed description to any setting, control, or field of the program just click the
hint button and then the object you need.
General Options
Enable data loss protection. Mark the checkbox to make the program work in the fail-safe mode (also
referred to as the data-loss protection mode), which ensures reliability for operations by maintaining a
special journal. In case of a hardware malfunction, power outage or an OS failure happened in the middle of
a data-sensitive operation (resize, move, merge, redistribute, change cluster size, etc.), the program will ask
to insert the bootable recovery media and automatically complete the interrupted operation, thus reviving
the corrupted partition.
Control archive integrity. Mark the checkbox to guarantee that all backup images created with the program
are 100 percent flawless. If you decided not to control the archive integrity, the backup operation would
take about 3-5% less time.
Set image file names automatically. Mark the checkbox to make the program automatically set a file name
for every volume of a complex backup image. Otherwise you will need to do it manually during the backup
operation.
Compression level. From the pull-down list you can select the desired compression level for backup images
that will be used by default.
Enable image splitting. Mark the checkbox to automatically split every backup image to volumes of a
particular size.
Splitting images enables to tackle problems caused by a maximum file size limitation of
some file systems.
Maximum split size. With the spinner control you can specify a maximum size for backup volumes.
Partitioning Options
Enable 64 KB cluster size for FAT16. Mark the checkbox to enable 64KB clusters for FAT16 partitions. Thus
you will be able to create FAT16 partitions up to 4GB in size
Due to the maximum cluster size of 32KB for Windows 95/98/ME or MS DOS, FAT16
partitions larger than 2GB are not reliably accessible under these operating systems.
Request confirmation before partition deletion. Mark the checkbox to activate an additional security
mechanism. Thus when going to delete a partition you will be automatically requested to enter its label.
Request confirmation when converting FAT16 to FAT32. Mark the checkbox to automatically request
confirmation before converting FAT16 to FAT32. There are a number of situations when this kind of
conversion is the only way out to accomplish the operation. For instance, you are going to migrate your
system to a larger hard disk with the proportional resize of existing partitions, what is very convenient. As a
result you can get original FAT16 partitions go beyond the 4GB limit. Thus without conversion to FAT32, this
operation will in no way be possible to accomplish. The same goes for any copy hard disk/partition or
restore hard disk/partition operation involving an extra upsizing.
Partition raw processing. Mark the checkbox to copy a partition in the sector-by-sector mode to successfully
process unknown file systems. However it is not recommended to enable this option when working with
supported file systems as it takes more time to accomplish the operation.
Skip OS auxiliary files. Mark the checkbox to skip OS auxiliary files (like pagefile.sys, hiberfil.sys, etc.), thus
reducing the operation time and the resulted size of the backup image.
Skip archive files stored in archive library. Mark the checkbox to skip backup images registered in the
archive database, thus reducing the operation time and the resulted size of the backup image.
By clicking the link at the bottom of the window you can jump to the Copy/Backup Exclude
Options.
Burn every CD/DVD to the end. By default, the program does not create ISO 9660 compliant burning
sessions, as it processes data on-the-fly and can only estimate the resulted session size. That’s why no third
party tool will get access to the recorded data. To tackle the issue, mark the checkbox to make the program
create a standard Disk-at-Once session. It may slow down the burning process, as every CD/DVD will be
recorded up to the end, no matter how much actual information to contain.
Recording speed. The user may define how fast a CD/DVD will be recorded (minimum, normal and
maximum). Besides there is an automatic mode when the program will set the most appropriate speed for
every CD/DVD.
Bootable ISO image. That’s the image to be placed together with the backup data. By default, the program
offers its own bootable ISO image, which contains a Linux/DOS recovery environment. However, the user is
free to use any bootable ISO image.
CD/DVD boot capability. The program enables to choose whether any recorded CD/DVD will be bootable, or
only the first one for a session, or without that function at all.
Folder where the ISO image is to be placed. When the user decides not to physically burn a CD/DVD, but
create an ISO image file, this very folder will be used to contain these images.
Enable hot processing. Mark the checkbox to enable the so called hot data processing mode that is specially
designed to process data without restarting your operating system.
Hot processing technology. From the pull-down list you can select the required hot processing technology.
Always use hot processing. Select the option to process partitions without making them locked. Thus you
will be able to keep working with them as usual.
Use hot processing only when partition is locked. Select the option to use the hot processing only when
partitions are locked and cannot be processed without restarting the computer. Please keep in mind, that
once you start any operation on a partition in this mode, it will automatically be locked by the program, thus
you won't be able to keep working with it as usual.
Hot processing temporary drive. Here you can select a disk drive that will be used to store the temporary
hot backup data (by default – C:).
Attempts to start VSS. Here you can set how many attempts to start Microsoft VSS the program is to do
before automatically rebooting the system and accomplishing the operation in a special boot-up mode.
Timeout between attempts (in seconds). Here you can set a time period between different attempts to
start Microsoft VSS.
Allow virtual mode. Mark the checkbox to enable the virtual mode. It is an effective way of protection from
any troubles, since no operation will be executed until confirmation, thus giving you a second chance to
weigh all pros and cons of this or that particular operation.
Close progress dialog automatically. Mark the checkbox to automatically close the progress dialog after
accomplishing operations.
Time zone to use during the convert operation. NTFS keeps file timestamps in GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)
while FAT uses a fixed local date and time. The program takes proper account of these differences and
enables to adjust timestamp values.
An incorrectly chosen time zone might lead to inability to launch certain software.
Language for file names to use during the convert operation. NTFS stores file names in Unicode while
FAT/FAT32 uses ANSI to save short file names (also called the DOS aliases). The codepage information is
required for the correct conversion of non-English file names from Unicode to ANSI and vice versa.
Request confirmation of settings before NTFS < - > FAT/FAT32 conversion. Mark the checkbox to
automatically display the local settings dialog to check and modify (if necessary) the default parameters
before launching the convert file system operation.
Copyright© 1994-2010 Paragon Software Group. All rights reserved.
Copy/Backup Exclude Options
In this section the program enables to specify what data should be automatically ignored during copy and sector-
based backup operations. You can filter certain files or folders either by the manual selection or by creating masks,
what is more preferable. Thus you will be able to effectively manage contents of your backup images or
partition/hard disk copies.
By default, there are no available filters. To create a filter, please click the Add Category… button.
In the opened dialog the program allows the user to define the following parameters:
Name. Give to the filter any name you like, but try to use an informative one;
Filter. Press the Browse button to select files or folders you would like to be excluded or specify a filter mask
by using * or ? wildcards;
Copyright© 1994-2010 Paragon Software Group. All rights reserved.
Description. Add a short description to the filter not to miss it up later.
Click the OK button and you will get a new item on the list of filters. By marking/unmarking a checkbox opposite its
name you can choose whether to use it or not.
By clicking the link at the bottom of the window you can jump to the General Copy and
Backup Options.
In this section you can specify a storage life span for the stubact.log file:
Custom to set a certain storage life span for the file. Please note, once the defined period has been expired,
the file will be emptied.
We strongly recommend you not to choose the Minimal option, as in case of having
problems with the program, our Support Team won’t be able to study operation logs, thus
help you out.
Generally the hard disks are represented on the map by rectangular bars, which also contain small-sized bars. The
small-sized bars represent logical disks (partitions). When you select a large-sized bar, the Explorer Bar displays
information about the disk in a bright, graphical form.
The model and serial number of the disk serve as the title of the browsed page. The disk layout is shown in form of a
circular graph, where the color of a sector corresponds to a file system of an appropriate partition. On the right you
may see a table, which contains the following information:
Information on geometry of the disk (amount of sectors per track, heads and cylinders).
Below there is a list of available wizards. If you click a corresponding record the appropriate wizard will be started.
All default values for the operation parameters will correspond to the disk’s settings. The list of wizards contains a
detailed description of tasks that can be performed by the wizard. This nullifies the possibility of selecting the wrong
wizard.
File system (represented by the color of the graph and the selected bar),
Below there is a list of wizards, which may be called for this disk. All default values of parameters will correspond to
the disk settings.
In Common Tasks bar: click the Restore item of the Wizards menu
Select a hard disk/partition and then click the Restore an image of the entire disk/Restore the logical disk
from an image link on the Explorer Bar page.
At first, the wizard displays the Welcome page – simply click the Next button at the foot of the dialog window.
The next page refers to Browse for Archive. By clicking the Switch to Archive List View link, you can see a list of
images contained in the Archive Database (if any).
In addition, there are some special graphical flags to indicate crucial properties:
FLAG FUNCTIONALITY
Disk archive
Partition archive
File archive
MBR archive
System archive
Encrypted archive
Compressed archive
Filtered archive
Differential archive
Incremental archive
To easily manage images in the Archive Database, the program provides the following functionality:
BUTTON FUNCTIONALITY
Besides you may filter backup archives to decide whether to show only file, partition or hard disk archives. To do
that, please select the required filter in the left top corner of the page.
By clicking the Switch to File View link, you can find the required image in the browser-like window.
Moreover, on this page you’ve got the possibility to create new folders, delete existing files/folders or map network
drives by clicking the appropriate buttons.
The next page (i.e. What to restore) displays detailed information about the contents of the archive.
2. Files view.
3. Archive List that displays a list of images contained in the Archive Database (if any).
Besides the program provides all the necessary functionality to manage backup images in the
database (add, delete, mount, refresh, etc.)
All panels offer a synchronized layout and are separated by vertical and horizontal
expandable sliders, allowing the user to customize the screen layout.
Startup
To start the Sector Backup Wizard in the Main Menu select Wizards > Back up a Disk or Partition…
Setup
The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the backup operation:
The object to back up. You can back up either an entire disk or separate partitions of the disk (primary,
extended or logical). In case of backing up an entire disk, you’ve got the possibility to include into the image
such disk elements as the Master Boot Record (MBR) and the first track of the hard disk. This can be very
helpful for serious disk recovery procedures.
Backup destination. The wizard allows saving backup archives to local or network drives, to physical
partitions (without drive letters assigned), to FTP Severs, the Backup Capsule or burning them to CD/DVDs.
You need to select a destination, taking the estimated archive size and available space on the backup
destination into account.
Name and location of the resulted image. Provide a file name for the new image and its exact location. The
program automatically offers an easy to understand name containing the date and the time of the archive
creation, which can anyway be modified.
Archive Comment. You can add some additional description to the archive that will later help to distinguish
it from the others.
In addition, there is the possibility to make further detailed settings (although the default values will do in most
cases). To activate the advance mode, you need to mark the appropriate option on the second page of the wizard.
When it is marked, the next page enables to define:
Checking archive integrity enables to guarantee that all backup images created with the
program are 100 percent flawless. Nevertheless if you decided not to control the archive
integrity, the backup operation would take about 3-5% less time.
Compression level for the backup image (including the No compression variant).
Whether the archive will be split (if yes, you can set the maximum size for the archive files).
Splitting images enables to tackle issues caused by a file size limitation of some file
systems.
Whether the selected disk (or the selected partition) will be copied in the sector-to-sector mode (including
unused sectors as well).
Whether backup images stored in the Archive Database will be processed during the backup operation.
Skipping backups of the Archive Database may considerably decrease the resulted image
file and time to carry out the operation.
Recording speed when the user wants to burn the backup image onto CD/DVDs.
ISO image folder where the archive that is to be recorded on a disc, is placed.
Whether the operation will be performed without rebooting the system. The program needs to reboot the
system in order to have exclusive access to processing data. In a Windows environment this is difficult to
achieve because even when all the other applications are closed, the system service programs are still
running. However, there is a way to avoid rebooting. The mode of processing the backup operation without
rebooting is named Hot Processing. You can also define specific parameters for the Hot Processing mode.
By default the program will take into account exclude filters set in the Settings dialog.
Result
After the backup operation is completed you receive an image of the selected disk (or the selected partition). This
image is placed into the specified destination, its features defined by the wizard.
Startup
There are several ways to start the Restore Wizard:
On the Common Tasks Bar: click the Restore item of the Wizards menu.
Copyright© 1994-2010 Paragon Software Group. All rights reserved.
In the Toolbar: click the Restore Wizard button.
Setup
The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the restore operation:
A backup image to be restored. The Browse for Archive page enables to find a backup image you need.
By clicking the Switch to Archive List View link, you can see a list of images contained in the Archive
Database (if any).
To get a clear-cut picture on properties of the required image, just click on it and the section below will (i.e.
Archive File Details) display a short description.
To know more on the subject, please consult the Viewing Image Properties chapter.
By clicking the Switch to File View link, you can find the required image in the browser-like window. The
section below (i.e. Archive File Details) will also display a short description of the selected image.
Moreover, on this page you’ve got the possibility to create new folders, delete existing files/folders or map
network drives by clicking the appropriate buttons.
Copyright© 1994-2010 Paragon Software Group. All rights reserved.
To know more on the subject, please consult the Viewing Image Properties chapter.
Data to restore. You’ve got the option to restore not only the entire archive, but separate items of it (the so
called selective restore functionality) by marking checkboxes next to the data items you need.
A place to restore. From the pull-down list you can choose whether to restore contents of the backup image
to its original location or specify some other one.
Besides if you select the Original location option, you can additionally define whether to replace already
existing files during the restore operation (good for recovering presumably corrupted files) or leave them
intact (good for recovering accidentally deleted files).
Data to restore. You’ve got the option to restore not only the entire archive, but separate items of it (the so
called selective restore functionality) by marking checkboxes next to the data items you need.
A place to restore. Selecting the destination, please note - all contents on the disk selected for restoring
purposes will be deleted during the operation.
To help you get a clear-cut picture of the operation outcome, the program allows inspecting the resulted
disk layout.
Restoring Partition:
Size of the restored volume and free space before and after it on the disk.
Drive letter assignment after restore. The pull-down list contains vacant drive letters that can be associated
with the restored partition.
Perform surface test. Define whether the surface test will be accomplished during the operation or not.
All contents on the disk selected for restoring purposes will be deleted during the
operation.
Result
The wizard will restore the archived data, and make it available to use in the operating system.
Copying of data from the corrupted system disk to another hard disk
Partition Management
In this chapter you will find all the information necessary to carry out partitioning operations supported by the
program.
Creating Partitions
The program provides the ability to create a new partition by using the DOS partitioning scheme. This operation can
be accomplished with the Create Partition Dialog.
Copyright© 1994-2010 Paragon Software Group. All rights reserved.
Restrictions
1. Do not use the Create Partition function in order to undelete the last deleted partition.
2. The program cannot create new partitions on Dynamic Disks. The current version of the program supports
only hard disks that use the DOS partitioning scheme (in Windows 2000 and XP these disks are named Basic
Disks).
3. According to the rules of the DOS partitioning scheme, the following combinations of partitions cannot be
created:
- If there is an Extended Partition on the disk, only three Primary partitions are allowed
4. The program allows creating new partitions only within blocks of un-partitioned space. It cannot convert a
free space on an existing partition to a new partition.
Startup
In order to start the operation you should take the following steps:
2. Call the Create Partition Dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:
- Call the popup menu for the block of free space (right click of the mouse button) then select the menu
item: Create Partition.
Setup
Initially the program suggests some consistent values for all parameters. In most cases, you can just press the Yes
button to confirm the operation.
Partition Size. Define the size (in Mb) of the new partition.
Free space before. Define the position (in Mb) of the new partition relative to the beginning of the block of
free space.
Free space after. Define the amount of trailing free space (in Mb) at the end of the new partition.
Partition size and position may also be defined by using the drag-and-drop technique. To do
that, just carry out the required operation on the Disk Map. The virtual operations are to be
available.
File system for new partition. From the pull-down list select a file system the newly created partition will be
formatted to, otherwise the partition will remain unformatted (so that it will not be ready to use).
Volume label. Enter a label for the selected partition in this textual field. It is an irrelevant parameter usually
used for drive identification.
Drive letter assignment. The pull-down list contains vacant drive letters that can be associated with the
newly formatted partition.
In addition, there is the possibility to make further detailed settings (although the default values will do in most
cases). To activate the advance mode, you need to click the More options button at the foot of the dialog page.
Depending on the chosen file system, the following options become available:
Whether the surface test will be performed. Define the level of the surface check to make the program find
bad and unstable sectors and mark them unusable in the file system metadata.
The amount of sectors per boot. This parameter is available exclusively for FAT16 and FAT32 file systems.
Set the number of sectors to be reserved for the boot area on the partition with this spinner control.
The amount of root entries. This parameter is available exclusively for FAT16 file system. Set the maximum
amount of files/directories to be placed in the Root Directory on the FAT16 partition.
The amount of sectors per cluster. Define the Cluster Size for the formatted partition with this spinner
control.
Result
After the operation is completed you receive a fully functional partition.
Formatting Partitions
Any partition should contain some file system to be used for keeping data. The process of installing a file system is
commonly known as formatting. A huge variety of file systems have been developed these days.
- FAT32
- NTFS
- Ext2
- Ext3
- Linux Swap v. 2
- Apple HFS
Startup
In order to start the operation you should take the following steps:
2. Call the Format Partition Dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:
- Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) then select the menu
item: Format Partition.
Setup
Initially the program suggests some consistent values for all parameters. In most cases, you can just press the
Format button to confirm the operation.
File system. From the pull-down list select the desired file system type. In fact, the program displays only
those file systems that can correctly be placed to the selected partition, taking its capacity into account.
Volume label. Enter a label for the selected partition in this textual field. It is an irrelevant parameter usually
used for drive identification.
In addition, there is the possibility to make further detailed settings (although the default values will do in most
cases). To activate the advance mode, you need to click the More options button at the foot of the dialog page.
Depending on the chosen file system, the following options become available:
Use OS built-in routine. Mark the option to restrict the available values according to the used OS.
Whether the surface test will be performed. Define the level of the surface check to make the program find
bad and unstable sectors and mark them unusable in the file system metadata.
The amount of sectors per boot. This parameter is available exclusively for FAT16 and FAT32 file systems.
Set the number of sectors to be reserved for the boot area on the partition with this spinner control.
The amount of root entries. This parameter is available exclusively for FAT16 file system. Set the maximum
amount of files/directories to be placed in the Root Directory on the FAT16 partition.
Result
After the operation is completed you receive a fully functional partition formatted to the specified file system.
Deleting Partitions
With the Delete Partition Dialog you can delete a partition on a hard disk partitioned with the DOS partitioning
scheme. Unlike the majority of other utilities (Windows Disk Manager included), the program can not only remove
references to the deleted partition from the Partition Table, thus making it unavailable for the operating system, but
also enables to irreversibly destroy its data. This feature will guarantee security of your personal information.
Startup
In order to start the operation you should take the following steps:
2. Call the Delete Partition Dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:
- Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) then select the menu
item: Delete Partition.
Setup
Initially the program suggests you just to remove references to the selected partition from the Partition Table.
Enter the volume label to confirm deleting. To confirm deletion of the selected partition, enter its Volume
Label. The current volume label is displayed above.
Do not ask volume label next time. Mark the option to inhibit confirmation next time you start the dialog.
Result
By default, the operation takes only a fraction of a second. However, the program waits until Windows completes
the modification of the disk layout. In case you decide to wipe the on-partition data as well, the operation will take
much longer, depending on the set wipe parameters.
In order to mark a partition active/inactive you should take the following steps:
2. Call the Mark Partition Active/Inactive Dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:
- Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map, then
select the menu item: Mark Partition as Active/Inactive.
There can only be one active partition on a hard disk, otherwise your operating system will
fail to boot.
Hide/Unhide Partition
The program allows you to hide/unhide primary and logical partitions. By default, an operating system does not
mount hidden partitions, thus preventing access to their contents.
2. Call the Hide/Unhide Partition Dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:
- Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map, then
select the menu item: Hide/Unhide Partition.
It is strongly recommended not to hide the system partition. Otherwise your operating
system will fail to boot.
In order to change a partition label you should take the following steps:
2. Call the Change Volume Label dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:
- Select in the Main Menu: Partition > Modify > Change Volume Label.
- Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map, then
select the menu item: Change Volume Label.
Change Partition ID
Partition ID is a file system identifier. It is saved in the Partition Table and is used to quickly detect a partition of the
supported type. By manually changing its value, you can manipulate accessibility of partitions.
2. Call the Change Partition ID dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:
- Select in the Main Menu: Partition > Modify > Change Partition ID…
- Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map, then
select the menu item: Change Partition ID…
Enter ID manually. With the spinner control set the required ID value. It has to be a 1-2 digit
hexadecimal number.
The program enables to modify the serial number parameter for FAT16, FAT32, or NTFS partitions without re-
formatting.
In order to change a serial number you should take the following steps:
2. Call the Change Partition Serial Number dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:
- Select in the Main Menu: Partition > Modify > Change Serial Number.
3. Enter a new serial number for the selected partition. It should contain 8 hexadecimal figures (0..9 or A..F).
The operation cannot proceed until you enter all 8 symbols.
Updating MBR
The program enables to overwrite the current bootable code in the MBR (Master Boot Record) by the standard
bootstrap code. This can help to repair a corrupted bootable code of a hard disk resulted from a boot virus attack or
a malfunction of boot management software.
In order to update MBR of a hard disk you should take the following steps:
2. Call the Update MBR dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:
- Call the popup menu for the selected hard disk (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map, then
select the menu item: Update MBR.
Task Scheduling
Automation of operations can really help you out when you’ve got to accomplish certain routine operations on a
regular basis as it enables to execute them without your involvement while optimizing your computer’s work-load.
Setting a Timetable
Thanks to the embedded Scheduler, you can set a timetable for execution of any operation. It has two categories for
time settings (these correspond to appropriate items in the Schedule type menu):
To run the task in the log-off mode, please specify administering login info by following the
appropriate link in the left lower corner of the page.
The Shutdown System on Complete option enables to automatically switch off the
computer on the successful accomplishment of the operation.
Managing Tasks
All scheduled tasks are placed in a separate list, which can be retrieved by clicking the Scheduled Tasks tab in the
Explorer Bar:
This feature can be particularly beneficial when the Scheduled Tasks list contains too many
items.
You can also enable/disable, rename, delete, refresh or modify properties of the selected task.
Task Editor
With the Task Editor you can easily modify properties of scheduled tasks. To do that, you should take the following
steps:
2. Call the Task Editor dialog. There are several ways to do it:
- Call the popup menu for the selected task (right click of the mouse button), then select the menu item:
Properties.
3. In the opened dialog window you can see two tabs - General and Schedule. Click the General tab to modify:
Full path to the macro-command program-interpreter, which describes the scheduled task;
Command line for starting the interpreter (i.e. the task described in macro-language)
In order to apply the changes, you need to click the Apply button at the foot of the dialog.
2. Carry out with the program all operations you need to schedule;
3. Call the Save to Scheduler dialog in the Main Menu: Tools > Save to Scheduler…;
4. In the opened dialog enter the required task name and specify the task timetable;
This command is unavailable if there are no operations on the List of Pending Operations.
Extra Functionality
This chapter describes the supplementary functionality available in the program.
1. Choose a partition/hard disk on the Disk Map, then select in the Main Menu: Partition/Hard Disk >
Properties…;
2. Call the popup menu for the selected partition/hard disk (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map,
then select the menu item: Properties…
In the opened dialog information will be grouped according to its properties, thus by clicking tabs you can get
information you need.
Startup
There are several ways to start the File Transfer Wizard:
Select the Transfer Files item of the Wizards menu on the Common Tasks Bar.
Copyright© 1994-2010 Paragon Software Group. All rights reserved.
Setup
The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the transfer operation:
Place to look for files/directories. Select a source disk from the pull-down list in the left pane of the page.
The program enables to process both mounted and unmounted (without drive letter assigned) partitions.
Besides it is possible to map a network drive.
Object(s) of operation. Choose files/directories you want to copy and place them to Clipboard by pressing
the Add button. To delete a file/directory from the Clipboard, select it in the Clipboard pane and press the
Remove button. You can also create a new folder, rename or irreversibly delete existing files/directories of
the left pane by pressing the appropriate buttons.
Destination to store the object(s). The File Transfer Wizard allows copying data to local or network drives,
to physical partitions (without drive letters assigned), or burning them to CD/DVDs. Choose the way the data
will be stored.
Result
After the operation is completed the required data will be placed into the specified destination.
Copying of data from the corrupted system disk to another hard disk
Mount Partition
The program enables to assign or remove drive letters of existing formatted partitions.
3. Specify a drive letter for the selected partition. Initially the program suggests some consistent value for this
parameter. So you may just press the Yes button to confirm the operation.
However you can manually define the required letter by selecting it from the pull-down list of available drive
letters.
Modifying drive letter of the system partition will result in inability to boot the operating
system.
After having processed partitions with installed software, some programs may not run
properly.
Mount Archive
The program provides the ability to assign a drive letter to a partition backup image. As a result of the operation you
will get a new read-only partition in the system to easily browse through its contents and copy the required
information even with the standard Windows tools.
2. Call the Mount Archive dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:
- Select in the Main Menu: Archives > Mount the Selected Archive.
- Call the popup menu for the selected image (right click of the mouse button), then select the menu
item: Mount the Selected Archive…
3. Specify a drive letter for the selected backup image. Initially the program suggests some consistent value for
this parameter. So you may just press the Yes button to confirm the operation.
However you can manually define the required letter by selecting it from the pull-down list of available drive
letters.
Archives will only be mounted for the current session and won’t be available after the
system restart.
It is strongly recommended not to un-mount backup images with Windows Disk Manager
or other third side software.
2. Call the Unmount Archive dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:
- Select in the Main Menu: Archives > Unmount the Selected Archive.
- Call the popup menu for the selected image (right click of the mouse button), then select the menu
item: Unmount the Selected Archive…
Test Surface
The program enables to test surface of existing partitions and blocks of free space for bad or unstable sectors. If
found any it automatically marks them unusable in the file system metadata, thus minimizing the risk of data loss.
In order to start the surface test you should take the following steps:
2. Call the Test Surface dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:
- Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map, then
select the menu item: Test Surface…
3. From the pull-down list choose the level of the surface check.
To start the system integrity check you should take the following steps:
2. Call the Check File System Integrity dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:
- Select in the Main Menu: Partition > Check File System Integrity
- Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map, then
select the menu item: Check File System Integrity.
3. Initially the program suggests some consistent values for all parameters. In most cases, you can just press
the Yes button to confirm the operation.
Scan for and attempt to recover bad sectors. Mark the checkbox to additionally process sectors
marked bad in the file system metadata for the purpose of their possible recovery.
Startup
There are several ways to start the Check Archive Integrity Wizard:
In the Main Menu: select Wizards > Backup Utilities > Check Archive Integrity…
On the Common Tasks Bar: click the Check Archive Integrity item of the Wizards menu.
Select a backup image in the Archive Database, then call the popup menu for it and choose the menu item:
Check Archive Integrity…
Setup
The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the operation:
An archive to verify. The Browse for Archive page enables to find a backup image you need.
To get a clear-cut picture on properties of the required image, just click on it and the section below will (i.e.
Archive File Details) display a short description.
To know more on the subject, please consult the Viewing Image Properties chapter.
By clicking the Switch to File View link, you can find the required image in the browser-like window. The
section below (i.e. Archive File Details) will also display a short description of the selected image.
Moreover, on this page you’ve got the possibility to create new folders, delete existing files/folders or map
network drives by clicking the appropriate buttons.
To know more on the subject, please consult the Viewing Image Properties chapter.
Result
After the operation is completed you can see results of the check.
Copyright© 1994-2010 Paragon Software Group. All rights reserved.
Check Recovery Discs
You’ve got the ability to check whether backup media created with the program is 100 percent error-free and ready
to use. The Check Recovery Disc Wizard will help you do that.
Startup
There are several ways to start the Check Recovery Disc Wizard:
On the Common Tasks Bar: click the Check Recovery Discs item of the Wizards menu.
Startup
The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the operation:
CD/DVD drive. Select from the pull-down list of available CD/DVD devices the required drive to use during
the operation.
Set whether to eject the disk after the operation is completed or not.
Result
After the operation is completed you can see results of the check.
View Logs
With a handy dialog you can study logs on any operation carried by the program. To make this job as easy as
possible, all the information is structurally divided, besides there is the possibility to see the disk layout before and
after an operation, what is very convenient.
In order to view logs on carried out operations call the View Logs dialog in the Main Menu: Tools > View Logs…
Backup Scenarios
Creating the Backup Capsule
Let us take a computer of a rank and file user who is most likely to have only one hard disk with only one partition
(the only partition is always system). Suppose that there is enough free space on the hard disk to create the backup
capsule as well. It can be created with the Manage Backup Capsule Wizard:
1. Click the Manage Backup Capsule item of the Wizards menu (any of the ways described earlier can also be
used here).
3. Select a place on the disk where the backup capsule will be created. It can be created as a primary partition
or as a logical drive within an extended partition. It can be inserted into any place on the hard disk: at the
end (preferable), at the beginning or somewhere in the middle between other partitions.
4. Set the size for the backup capsule. It will be created at the expense of free space of the selected disk.
There is no restriction on the size of the backup capsule, merely depending on the available space of the
hard disk and the capacity needed for the backup.
If the wizard cannot find enough free space in one block, it will redistribute free space, joining all free space
blocks together into one united block and moving partitions if necessary. If the total amount of free space is
still not enough, it is possible to split a fragment of space from one of the existing partitions, thus resizing it.
If the partition is locked and cannot be resized, the wizard makes the system reboot to
create the backup capsule and automatically boots the system again. (The rebooting
mechanism is different for different versions of Windows).
5. Activate the bootable recovery environment if needed. With its help you will get the choice to boot directly
from the backup capsule for maintenance or recovery purposes every time you start up the computer.
The backup capsule can only be bootable if it is located on the bootable device (assigned in
the BIOS).
6. Start the operation (by clicking the Next button) or return to correct the settings.
After the operation is completed you can place backup archives into the created backup capsule.
Copyright© 1994-2010 Paragon Software Group. All rights reserved.
Backing up a hard disk or partition to the Backup Capsule
To back up an entire hard disk or a separate partition and then place the resulted image into the backup capsule,
please do the following:
1. Create the backup capsule with the Manage Backup Capsule Wizard.
2. Click the Back up a Disk or Partition item of the Wizards menu (any of the ways described earlier can also be
used here).
4. On the What to back up page, mark the appropriate option opposite a hard disk’s name or a partition’s
name depending on the chosen task.
You’ve got the option to modify the default backup settings by marking the appropriate
checkbox on this page.
By default the program will take into account exclude filters set in the Settings dialog.
5. On the Backup Destination page, select the Save data to the Backup Capsule option.
8. Choose whether to accomplish the operation immediately or set a time table for it.
9. On the Backup Summary page review all parameters of the operation and modify them if necessary. Click
the Next button to start the backup process.
This operation can also be accomplished with the Linux/DOS recovery environment.
1. Click the Back up a Disk or Partition item of the Wizards menu (any of the ways described earlier can also be
used here).
3. On the What to back up page, mark the appropriate option opposite a hard disk’s name or a partition’s
name depending on the chosen task.
You’ve got the option to modify the default backup settings by marking the appropriate
checkbox on this page.
By default the program will take into account exclude filters set in the Settings dialog.
5. Select a recordable device on the list of available CD/DVD devices and edit the archive name, if necessary.
Please take into account the Estimated archive size value. It can give you a hint about the
number of CD/DVD discs required for the operation.
7. Choose whether to accomplish the operation immediately or set a time table for it.
8. On the Backup Summary page review all parameters of the operation and modify them if necessary. Click
the Next button to start the backup process.
This operation can also be accomplished with the Linux/DOS recovery environments.
1. Click the Back up a Disk or Partition item of the Wizards menu (any of the ways described earlier can also be
used here).
You’ve got the option to modify the default backup settings by marking the appropriate
checkbox on this page.
By default the program will take into account exclude filters set in the Settings dialog.
4. On the Backup Destination page, select the Save data to local/network drives option.
- Call the Map Network Drive dialog by clicking the appropriate button;
- Click the standard browse button [...] to browse for the required network share or manually enter a path
to it;
- Click the Connect as user button at the foot of the dialog page to specify a user name and password to
access the selected network share if necessary.
Please take into account values of the parameters Estimated archive size and Space
available on backup destination - if the archive size exceeds the available space, another
network drive needs to be selected.
8. Choose whether to accomplish the operation immediately or set a time table for it.
9. On the Backup Summary page review all parameters of the operation and modify them if necessary. Click
the Next button to start the backup process.
This operation can also be accomplished with the Linux/DOS recovery environments.
1. Click the Back up a Disk or Partition item of the Wizards menu (any of the ways described earlier can also be
used here).
3. On the What to back up page, mark the appropriate option opposite a hard disk’s name or a partition’s
name depending on the chosen task.
By default the program will take into account exclude filters set in the Settings dialog.
4. On the Backup Destination page, select the Save data to FTP locations option.
- Password. Enter a password to access the FTP server. Click Remember password to save it next time you
back up to this location;
- Port. Specify the required port (21 by default) and click Use Active Mode if necessary;
You need to check out yourself Windows Firewall or programs of this kind let our program
work with the required port (21 by default).
6. If yes, you’ll get a new item on the list named after the selected FTP location. By clicking the + icon you can
browse it to specify a more exact location for your backup image.
9. Choose whether to accomplish the operation immediately or set a time table for it.
10. On the Backup Summary page review all parameters of the operation and modify them if necessary. Click
the Next button to start the backup process.
1. Launch the Cyclic Backup Wizard by selecting in the Main Menu: Wizards > Backup Utilities > Cyclic
Backup...
3. On the What to back up page, select a partition you want to make a cyclic backup of;
4. On the Backup Destination page, select a mounted/unmounted partition, or a network share to place
backup images to.
Please take into account values of the parameters Estimated archive size and Space
available on backup destination - if the archive size exceeds the available space, another
drive needs to be selected.
To know more on the subject, please consult the Task Scheduling chapter.
8. On the Cyclic backup type page, choose the way of creating a cyclic backup:
Base type. Every image created during the operation will be made as a full archive.
Differential type. Every first image will be made as a full (base) archive and all the others will be
differentiated from it. This operation requires much less space, thus considerably saving your system
resources.
By setting the Maximum disk space to store images and the Maximum number of images to store
parameters you may define when the operation will be cycled. That means that on exceeding these two
parameters the oldest archives will be automatically overwritten (if choosing the Differential type only
differential images will be overwritten).
The operation will run according to the set timetable. The resulted backup images will be placed into the specified
destination (a local or a network disk), its features defined by the wizard.
3. On the Browse for Archive page, specify the required full (base) partition archive:
By clicking the Switch to Archive List View link, you can see a list of images contained in the Archive
Database (if any).
To get a clear-cut picture on properties of the required image, just click on it and the section below will
(i.e. Archive File Details) display a short description.
To know more on the subject, please consult the Viewing Image Properties chapter.
By clicking the Switch to File View link, you can find the required image in the browser-like window. The
section below (i.e. Archive File Details) will also display a short description of the selected image.
4. The Archive Content page displays detailed information about the contents of the archive. It includes a full
description of properties about the partition. In addition, there is the possibility to modify backup settings.
To activate the advance mode, you need to mark the appropriate option at the foot of the page.
5. On the Backup Destination page, select where you want to place your backup image.
8. Choose whether to accomplish the operation immediately or set a time table for it.
9. On the Backup Summary page review all parameters of the operation and modify them if necessary. Click
the Next button to start the backup process.
After the operation is completed you receive a differential backup of the selected partition. It is placed into the
specified destination (a local or network disk, the Backup Capsule or a CD/DVD disc), its features defined by the
wizard.
Recovery Scenarios
Restoring a system partition from external media (CD/DVD)
Let’s assume that your computer fails to boot because of a virus attack or corruption of some system critical files.
But you’ve got a backup of your system partition on a bootable DVD disc. That’s just enough to easily get your
system back on track again.
To restore your system partition from a backup image located on CD/DVD when the current OS is down, please do
the following:
1. Insert a CD/DVD disc containing the previously prepared backup image into a CD/DVD drive (the BIOS must
be enabled to boot the system from the CD/DVD device).
This scenario implies that you have got a bootable archive on your CD/DVD.
In case the backup image is stored on several CD/DVD disks, please insert the first one.
3. In the boot menu select Normal Mode to use the Linux recovery environment (more preferable) or Safe
Mode to use the PTS DOS recovery environment (in case you’ve got problems with Linux). Moreover you’ve
got the option to boot into the Low-Graphics Safe Mode (PTS DOS safe mode) to cope with a serious
hardware incompatibility. In this case, only the minimal set of drivers will be included, like hard disk,
monitor, and keyboard drivers. This mode has simple graphics and a simple menu.
4. In the PTS DOS launch menu select the Simple Restore Wizard. You can find the same wizard in Linux as well.
6. On the What to Restore page, you can see a list of available images (if several). Most likely the required
archive will be there too. If not, click the standard browse button [...] to find it. When you find your image,
double click on it to proceed.
7. On the Image Properties page, make sure that you select the correct image by viewing the provided
information about the archive.
All contents on the partition selected for restoring purposes will be deleted during the
operation.
9. On the Partition Start and Size page you can change size of the partition and its location if necessary.
10. On the Restore Summary page you can see your hard disk layout before and after the operation. Click the
Next button to initiate the restore process.
12. After completing the operation close the wizard, and then reboot the computer.
To restore your system partition from a backup image located on a network drive, please do the following:
3. On the Browse for Archive page you need to specify the required backup image. So you should take the
following steps to do that:
- Call the Map Network Drive dialog by clicking the appropriate button;
- Click the standard browse button [...] to browse for the required network share or manually enter a
path to it;
- Click the Connect as user button at the foot of the dialog page to specify a user name and password to
access the selected network share if necessary.
Choose the required archive in the browser-like window. The Archive File Details section displays a short
description of the selected image.
4. The What to Restore page displays detailed information about the contents of the archive. Select the
required item to restore. In our case it is the first partition of the disk.
All contents on the partition selected for restoring purposes will be deleted during the
operation.
6. On the Restore Results page you can see the resulted disk layout. Besides there’s the possibility to change
size of the partition and its location if necessary as well as assign a particular drive letter.
7. On the next page of the wizard confirm the operation by selecting the appropriate option.
Mark the checkbox at the bottom of the window to automatically switch off the computer on the successful
accomplishment of the restore operation.
9. After completing the operation close the wizard, and then reboot the computer.
To restore your system partition from a backup image located on a local disk, please do the following:
1. Click the Restore item of the Wizards menu (any of the ways described earlier can also be used here).
By clicking the Switch to Archive List View link, you can see a list of images contained in the Archive
Database (if any).
To know more on the subject, please consult the Viewing Image Properties chapter.
By clicking the Switch to File View link, you can find the required image in the browser-like window. The
section below (i.e. Archive File Details) will also display a short description of the selected image.
To know more on the subject, please consult the Viewing Image Properties chapter.
All contents on the partition selected for restoring purposes will be deleted during the
operation.
5. On the Restore Results page you can see the resulted disk layout. Besides there’s the possibility to change
size of the partition and its location if necessary as well as assign a particular drive letter.
7. The program will require the system restart to accomplish the operation in a special boot-up mode. Click the
appropriate button to agree.
After completing the operation the program will automatically reboot the computer.
To restore a dual boot Mac from a backup image located on an external USB drive, please do the following:
Recovery Media Builder can help you prepare the Linux/DOS recovery environment either
on a CD/DVD disc or a thumb drive.
4. In the boot menu select Normal Mode to use the Linux recovery environment, since it’s the only mode that
enables to work with USB devices.
By default the Normal Mode will be automatically initiated after a 10 second idle period.
7. On the What to Restore page, click the standard browse button [...] to find the required archive. When done,
double click on it to select.
9. On the next page specify a hard disk to restore the image to.
All contents on disk selected for restoring purposes will be deleted during the operation.
11. In the Progress window you can see in real-time a detailed report on all actions carried out by the program.
12. After completing the operation close the wizard, and then reboot the computer.
Copying of data from the corrupted system disk to another hard disk
To retrieve valuable information from your hard disk and copy it to another hard disk when the system fails to boot,
please do the following:
Recovery Media Builder can help you prepare the Linux/DOS recovery environment either
on a CD/DVD disc or a thumb drive.
To automatically boot from the recovery media please make sure the on-board BIOS is set
up to boot from CD/USB first.
3. In the boot menu select Normal Mode to use the Linux recovery environment (more preferable) or Safe
Mode to use the PTS DOS recovery environment (in case you’ve got problems with Linux). Moreover you’ve
got the option to boot into the Low-Graphics Safe Mode (PTS DOS safe mode) to cope with a serious
Copyright© 1994-2010 Paragon Software Group. All rights reserved.
hardware incompatibility. In this case, only the minimal set of drivers will be included, like hard disk,
monitor, and keyboard drivers. This mode has simple graphics and a simple menu.
By default the Normal Mode will be automatically initiated after a 10 second idle period.
4. In the Linux launch menu select the File Transfer Wizard. You can find the same wizard in PTS DOS as well.
6. Select a disk where the files you need are stored from the pull-down list in the right pane of the page.
8. On the Select Destination Type, choose the way the data will be stored. Select the Save data to any local
drive or a network share item.
9. On the Select Destination Path page, select a hard disk to copy the data to by pressing the standard browse
button [...].
10. On the Transfer Summary page check all parameters of the operation. Click the Next button to accomplish
the operation.
11. In the Progress window you can see in real-time a detailed report on all actions carried out by the program.
Recovery Media Builder can help you prepare the Linux/DOS recovery environment either
on a CD/DVD disc or a thumb drive.
To automatically boot from the recovery media please make sure the on-board BIOS is set
up to boot from CD/USB first.
2. In the boot menu select Normal Mode to use the Linux recovery environment, since it’s the only mode that
enables to burn CD/DVD discs.
By default the Normal Mode will be automatically initiated after a 10 second idle period.
3. In the Linux launch menu select the File Transfer Wizard. You can find the same wizard in PTS DOS as well.
5. Select a disk where the files you need are stored from the pull-down list in the right pane of the page.
6. Select files you want to copy and place them to Clipboard by pressing the left arrow-button.
8. On the Choose a Recorder page, select a recorder from the list of available devices and then set a volume
label by entering it in the appropriate field.
9. On the Transfer Summary page check all parameters of the operation. Click the Next button to accomplish
the operation.
10. In the Progress window you can see in real-time a detailed report on all actions carried out by the program.
11. After the operation is completed, close the wizard by pressing the appropriate button.
To automatically boot from the recovery media please make sure the on-board BIOS is set
up to boot from CD/USB first.
2. In the boot menu select Normal Mode to use the Linux recovery environment (more preferable) or Safe
Mode to use the PTS DOS recovery environment (in case you’ve got problems with Linux). Moreover you’ve
got the option to boot into the Low-Graphics Safe Mode (PTS DOS safe mode) to cope with a serious
hardware incompatibility. In this case, only the minimal set of drivers will be included, like hard disk,
monitor, and keyboard drivers. This mode has simple graphics and a simple menu.
By default the Normal Mode will be automatically initiated after a 10 second idle period.
3. In the Linux launch menu select the File Transfer Wizard. You can find the same wizard in PTS DOS as well.
5. Select a disk where the system backup is stored from the pull-down list in the right pane of the page.
7. Select files you want to copy and place them to Clipboard by pressing the left arrow-button.
8. On the Select Destination Type, choose the way the data will be stored. Select the Save data to any local
drive or a network share item.
10. On the Transfer Summary page check all parameters of the operation. Click the Next button to accomplish
the operation.
11. In the Progress window you can see in real-time a detailed report on all actions carried out by the program.
12. After the operation is completed, close the wizard by pressing the appropriate button.
Restore Wizard
1. Select the Restore Wizard.
3. On the Browse for Archive page choose the required archive in the browser-like window. The Archive File
Details section displays a short description of the selected image.
4. On the next page specify what you need to extract from the backup by marking checkboxes next to the
required data items. At the right lower corner of the window you can see the resulted amount of the
selected data.
6. On the Restore Summary page review all parameters of the operation and modify them if necessary.
7. On the next page of the wizard confirm the operation by selecting the appropriate option.
8. In the Progress window you can see in real-time a detailed report on all actions carried out by the program.
9. After completing the operation close the wizard, and then reboot the computer.
2. Select files you want to copy and place them to Clipboard by pressing the left arrow-button.
3. On the Select Destination Type, choose the way the data will be stored. Select the Save data to any local
drive or a network share item.
4. On the Select Destination Path page, specify the exact place to copy the data to.
6. After the operation is completed, close the wizard by pressing the appropriate button.
Before you start, please make sure the following conditions are met:
You’ve got enough free space to store a virtual image of your system (depends on the system).
1. Click the P2V Copy item of the Wizards menu (any of the ways described earlier can also be used here).
3. Select objects you need to virtualize. You’re allowed to select any combination of hard disks and partitions,
but don’t forget to choose your system partition (Local Disk C: in our case) to use it as guest. Otherwise the
resulted virtual machine won’t start up.
Not all vendors may be available to choose. If capacity of one of the selected objects
exceeds the maximum virtual disk capacity of any vendor, this vendor will be shadowed.
Virtual machine version. Please make sure you choose a version which is supported by your
virtualization software, otherwise you won’t be able to work with the newly created machine.
Virtual machine name. By default the wizard picks the name of your guest OS, which can be modified
however.
Memory amount. Depending on the guest OS the wizard calculates the recommended size of RAM,
which can be modified however.
Virtual disk interface. By default the wizard sets the most appropriate interface for each disk. Anyway
you’ve got the option to change it to one of the supported by your guest OS. Just click on a disk, and
then select the required interface from the pull-down list. But be ready to provide drivers for it on the
next page.
Our program supports injection of drivers delivered in .iso or .flp images, so you can for
instance download and inject drivers for the BusLogic controller from the VMware website.
Additional properties that depending on the selected virtualization vendor may include:
- Size of the virtual disk. By default the wizard offers to create a virtual disk exactly the size of the
selected object(s), which you can resize however (available for all);
- Resize partitions proportionally. If you upsize the resulted virtual disk, you can make the wizard
proportionally change the size of partitions keeping their relative order intact (available for all);
- Create a split disk. You can choose whether to automatically cut the resulted virtual image to files of
2 GBs or not (available for VMware only);
The maximum limit you can downsize the virtual disk is the capacity of its first partition.
7. Specify a file name for the virtual machine and its location. By default the wizard scans all your local disks for
available free space and picks the most appropriate location taking into account the total capacity of all
virtual disks inside the virtual machine.
1. Click the P2V Adjust item of the Wizards menu (any of the ways described earlier can also be used here).
4. Our wizard will detect a version of Windows OS inside the image and offer to specify a virtualization
software vendor. At the present moment the .vhd format is supported by Microsoft Virtual
PC/Server/Hyper-V, and Oracle VirtualBox. We choose the last one.
Virtual machine version. Please make sure you choose a version which is supported by your
virtualization software, otherwise you won’t be able to work with the newly created machine.
CPU number. If your computer supports multiprocessing, select how many CPUs you’d like to allocate
for the virtual machine.
Memory amount. Depending on the guest OS the wizard calculates the recommended size of RAM,
which can be modified however.
If the selected version does not officially support the guest OS, you will be notified and
prompted to select another one.
Troubleshooter
Here you can find answers to the most frequently asked questions that might arise while using the program.
1. I try to run an operation, but the program claims my partition is in use and suggests restarting the computer.
There are a number of operations that cannot be performed while your partition is in use (or locked in other
words). Please agree to reboot your machine to make the program accomplish the operation in a special
boot-up mode.
2. I run an operation and restart the machine as required, but it just boots back into Windows without
accomplishing the operation.
According to the rules of the DOS partitioning scheme, the following combinations of partitions
cannot be created:
- If there is an Extended Partition on the disk, only three Primary partitions are allowed.
The program allows creating new partitions only within blocks of un-partitioned space. It cannot
convert a free space on an existing partition to a new partition.
- 4 primary partitions (or three primary partitions and an extended one) already exist on the target disk.
5. I need to copy a partition. But when selecting a place where to make a copy, I always get a crossed circle sign
no matter which partition is selected.
The program enables to copy a partition only to a block of un-partitioned space. If you don’t have a block of
free space on your hard disk, please delete or reduce an existing partition to accomplish the operation.
6. I cannot do anything with my USB flash drive. I get a crossed circle sign when trying to select any area on it.
Some USB flash drives don't have the MBR (Master Boot Record), that’s the cause of your problem. To fix
the issue please use the Update MBR function of our program or 'fixmbr' of the Windows installation disc to
write a standard code to your flash drive.
7. When trying to back up my system the program asks to restart the computer.
Most likely the Hot Processing mode is disabled. Please make it active in the program settings.
8. When backing up a partition with the VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service) mode, the program throws "VSS
could not be started for processed volume".
Most likely you try to back up a FAT32 partition, which is not supported by VSS. Please use the Paragon Hot
Processing mode instead.
9. I cannot back up my hard disk to an external hard drive. Once started, the operation is aborted with the
following error: Hard Disk management, Error Code 0x1100a. What is wrong here?
The problem is that the Microsoft VSS service is set as the default Hot Processing mode in the program. But
this service has not been started in your WindowsXP/Windows2003/Vista. Please start this service (right
click on My Computer > Manage > Services > find Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service and make it active.
Set also to start it automatically).
Most likely your hard disk contains bad blocks. Please fix the issue with your HDD manufacturer's tool.
You can find a name of the tool you need here: http://kb.paragon-software.com
11. When running a backup operation with the Microsoft VSS mode enabled, I get the following error: error
code 0x12016 "VSS: can't read volume data”
Most likely your hard disk contains bad blocks. Please fix the issue with your HDD manufacturer's tool.
You can find a name of the tool you need here: http://kb.paragon-software.com
12. When trying to back up to a network share, I get the following error: "i/o error" or "can't open/create file"
Please check whether you’ve got a permission to write to the selected destination or not.
13. When trying to restore a backup archive, I get the following error: "Can't restore to current selection" or
"Archive does not fit"
Most likely you’re trying to restore a backup of the whole hard disk to a partition or vice versa.
- Windows Task Scheduler does not work properly. Check whether it is so or not by scheduling a simple task
(call Notepad through scheduling);
Glossary
Active Partition is a partition from which an x86-based computer starts up. The active partition must be a primary
partition on a basic disk. If you use Windows exclusively, the active partition can be the same as the system volume.
In the DOS partitioning scheme, only primary partitions can be active due to limitations of the standard bootstrap.
The term backup originates from the time when the best way to protect valuable information was to store it in form
of archives on external media. It’s become now a general notion to mean making duplications of data for protection
purposes.
Bootable Archive is created by adding a special bootable section when backing up the data to CD/DVDs. Thus you
will be able to restore the data from these archives without having to run the program, but by simply booting from
these CD/DVDs.
Cluster is the smallest amount of disk space that can be allocated to hold a file. All file systems used by Windows
organize hard disks based on clusters, which consist of one or more contiguous sectors. The smaller the cluster size,
the more efficiently a disk stores information. If no cluster size is specified during formatting, Windows picks
defaults based on the size of the volume. These defaults are selected to reduce the amount of space that is lost and
the amount of fragmentation on the volume. A cluster is also called an allocation unit.
File System Metadata. The servicing structures of a file system, which contain information about allocating files and
directories, security information etc, are named the file system metadata. It is invisible for users and regular
applications because its accidental modification usually makes a partition unusable.
Hard Disk Geometry. Traditionally, the usable space of a hard disk is logically divided into cylinders, cylinders are
divided into tracks (or heads), and tracks are divided into sectors.
The triad of values {[Sectors-per-Track], [Tracks-per-Cylinder], [Amount-of-Cylinders]} is usually named the Hard Disk
Geometry or C/H/S geometry.
Tracks and cylinders are enumerated from "0", while sectors are enumerated from "1". These disk parameters play
an essential role in the DOS Partitioning scheme.
Modern hardware uses an advanced scheme for the linear addressing of sectors, which assumes that all on-disk
sectors are continuously enumerated from “0”. To allow backward compatibility with older standards, modern hard
disks can additionally emulate the C/H/S geometry.
Hidden Partition. The concept of a "hidden" partition was introduced in the IBM OS/2 Boot Manager. By default, an
operating system does not mount a hidden partition, thus preventing access to its contents.
A method of hiding a partition consists in changing the partition ID value saved in the Partition Table. This is
achieved by XOR-ing the partition ID with a 0x10 hexadecimal value.
Master File Table (MFT) is a relational database that consists of rows of file records and columns of file attributes. It
contains at least one entry for every file on an NTFS volume, including the MFT itself. MFT is similar to a FAT table in
a FAT file system.
MBR & 1st track of the hard disk is the 0th sector of the disk. MBR (Master Boot Record) contains important
information about the disk layout:
- The standard bootstrap code (or the initial code of boot managers, disk overlay software or boot viruses).
Generally, the 0th sector is used for similar purposes in all existing partitioning schemes.
The MBR capacity is not sufficient to contain sophisticated boot programs. That’s why the on-boot software is
allowed to use the entire 0th track of the disk. For example, boot managing utilities such as LILO, GRUB and Paragon
Boot Manager are located in the 0th track.
Partition ID (or File system ID) is a file system identifier that is placed in the partition. It is used to quickly detect
partitions of supported types. A number of operating systems completely rely on it to distinguish supported
partitions.
Partition ID is saved in appropriate entries of the Partition Table and takes only 1 byte of space.
Modern operating systems save it within a file system, e.g. as a special hidden file. Thus it is able to contain a
relatively large amount of text in multiple languages.
Partitioning Scheme is a set of rules, constraints and format of the on-disk structures to keep information on
partitions located on a hard disk.
There are known several partitioning schemes. The most popular of them is the so-called DOS partitioning scheme.
It was introduced by IBM and Microsoft to use multiple partitions in the disk subsystems on IBM PC compatible
computers.
Another popular partitioning scheme is the so-called Logical Disks Model (LDM) that originates from the UNIX
mainframe systems. Veritas Executive accommodates a simplified version of LDM to the Windows 2000 operating
system.
Windows 2000 and XP support two quite different partitioning schemes: the old DOS partitioning scheme and the
new Dynamic Disk Management (DDM). The problem is that earlier versions of Windows do not support DDM. In
addition, most hard disk utilities do not support it as well.
Recovery Media is a CD/DVD disc, a USB flash card or even a floppy disk from which you can boot for maintenance
or recovery purposes.
Root Directory is the top-level directory of a formatted logical drive to include other files and directories. In modern
file systems (Ext2/Ext3, NTFS and even FAT32) it does not differ from other directories. This is not the case for old
FAT12 and FAT16 file systems.
Serial Number. In the DOS partitioning scheme, every hard disk and every partition has a 32-bit serial number
represented by an 8-figure hexadecimal value. It is stored in the MBR and its value is assigned when the MBR sector
is initialized by Microsoft standard disk managing tools, such as Windows Disk Administrator and the FDISK utility.
In fact, a hard disk's serial number is not important for most operating systems and software. It is known that
Windows NT, 2000 and XP store its value in the database of assigned drive letters.
A partition's serial number is stored in its boot sector (in FAT16, FAT32 and NFTS file systems). Its value is assigned
when the partition is formatted. It does not play an important role for most operating systems and software as well.